If you're without electricity and want to use a portable generator, make sure you use it in a well-ventilated area. Don't connect the generator to your home’s electrical panel or fuse boxes. It may cause electricity to feed back into the power lines, which can endanger linemen and damage electric service facilities.

If your power is out following a storm and you must cook food with Sterno or charcoal, remember to do so outside in a well-ventilated area. Cooking indoors with Sterno or charcoal will produce deadly carbon-monoxide fumes.

Electric cooperative members are asked to call their cooperative directly if they experience a disruption in power. For phone numbers to report outages and the counties served by each co-op, refer to www.ncelectriccooperatives.com/co-ops/coops.htm. Now is the time to fully charge cell phones.

North Carolina’s electric cooperatives serve more than 2.5 million people in 93 of the state’s 100 counties.